"I started working in Merina in the factory in 1941. I left school in June and went to Merina in September. So how old was? (13 years old) Because at that time they were hiring new workers, so I went to that Merina. And we walked through Brezina. And when we went home, we were young and we sang. And all of a sudden we came here behind the barn, behind the village and we sang to each other and did stupid things like young girls, even boys. And such a grandmother used to pluck hemp here. And suddenly the old lady started shouting at us - What are you hooting, what are you doing, why aren't you quiet?! We were just looking at the old lady, why are you yelling to us? However, we are not doing wrong, we are singing. We look at why are you yelling? - After all, Jews were shot in this mine, they were driven here and they were shot here - What did we know, what was being done there?'"
0:40:33 – 0:41:59 – The memories of the Jews shot in the stone quarry behind Soblahov
"When we went to work and we walked - it was called Vápenice - through Brezina. So we went down to a military meadow, where the soldiers had a shooting range. But even when there was peace. Our soldiers. We used to go here. And then when we went from there, it went up the shore. Suddenly they started, when we were supposed to go there, the soldiers stopped us. Why are they arresting us, they don't shoot, they don't train. Why won't they let us in? So we had to go to such an arch. They exported and shot prisoners there. In such a pit. One time we went to work and a soldier was already standing there, he didn't want to let us go. So then we had to go around such a big arch and then when we came to Merina. But as we went a little further, two trucks were coming. Covered and behind them was a car. We knew what would happen. And when we got to Merina, we had to go almost a short distance, suddenly the cars were empty, they had already been shot. Then they cleaned it there. That was during the war..."
0:42:46 – 0:45:05 – On Brezin, the Germans shot captured and tortured prisoners, Mária walked past them to work
"And then they captured those soldiers. Those Germans. They captured some of those Russians. And they did not put them into battle, but they served them. They gave them wagons and horses and they went to get ammunition from anywhere and drove it to the front. One of them always slept at five in the morning. He left at five in the morning and came back at six in the evening. Russian, he was a prisoner. And we only had one room and I was there. We were four of us and he had nowhere to sleep, so he lay on the ground. And my parents gave him a piece of wood so he wouldn't lie on the ground, so he lay there. Then I started going to the factory with my brother, and we had to get up at five, and while he was still lying down, we crossed him. His horse was in the barn and he was sleeping inside. He was not with us all day until the evening came. He brought dinner to such an artificial a can and that was it, ours always offered him something cooked. Mom was so sorry. And then in the morning he always left without saying a word, harnessed the horses and was gone."
0:05:50 – 0:07:50 – A prisoner of German soldiers slept in the house of Mária's parents
Mária Zaťková, née Kopačková, was born on February 18, 1928 in Soblahov near Trenčín. Parents Filip and Helena were small farmers, she had a brother Rudolf who was two years older. Before the Second World War, Mária’s father had to enlist as part of the mobilization. After finishing folk school in 1941, at the age of 13, she started working with her brother as a weaver at the Tiberghien (Merina) factory in Trenčín. During World War II, Soblahov was occupied by German troops. The German soldiers had Soviets prisoners with them, one of them was sleeping in the house of Maria’s parents. Together with the other villagers, Mária went to work through the Brezina forest, where, from October 1944 to April 1945, the Nazis shot and buried in mass graves 69 martyred victims who had previously been imprisoned in Trenčín. While working at the factory, she also experienced several alarms when they had to evacuate. They shot several Jews in the stone quarry behind Soblahov. During the liberation struggles in April 1945, the village was occupied by Soviets soldiers for several weeks, wagons full of food and brandy were stored in the Kopačka family yard, and a field kitchen was stored two houses away at the home of Baláža. Mária had to leave the house, she was afraid of them. After the war, the payment of contingents and cooperatives began. Mária married Jozef Zaťka and gave birth to two children. Later, she worked at a cooperative, she was never politically involved. In August 1968, they were combing and drying hops, soldiers stopped them and searched the whole car. In November 1989, she was already retired, thanks to the reforms, her pension was improved. During recording was a widow, she lived with her daughter’s family in Soblahovo. Mária Zaťková died on December 24, 2022
The memorial on Brezina in Trenčín, where 56 of the 69 martyred victims are buried. Other victims were buried by their relatives in their native villages
The memorial on Brezina in Trenčín, where 56 of the 69 martyred victims are buried. Other victims were buried by their relatives in their native villages
